Who is Conner Kent?
by Ninja-Consultant
Summary: A school assignment forces Kon-El to ask himself a question: who is Conner Kent? A one chapter story. Completed.


Disclaimer: DC Comics owns all rights to the characters within. They are used without permission and not meant to infringe on copyrights or meant to generate income.

Also, if you have not read my other stories, it would be helpful to do so before reading this one. The chronology goes: Brothers in Arms, Where Do We Go From Here, Tragedies of the Past, Betrayal From Within, Future Sins, Reestablishing Bonds, Parents and Children, New Allies, Rivals or Friends, Public Enemy Number One, Double Date, Mind Games, Solar Complications, Mentors and Pupils, Brother Against Brother, Calm Before the Storm, Opening Moves, Isolation, The Great Father and Son Contest, Fugue State, Fallout, Holidays, Confidence and Envy, Betrayal, Mandatory Downtime, The Apprentice and Return to Hawaii.

Who Is Conner Kent?

Location: Smallville High

"I'd like you all to write a paper about yourselves," the teacher told her class. "You should talk about what you've experienced in the past, who you are now, and what you hope to accomplish in the future."

"Does it matter if we write more about one part than the other?" one student asked.

"No, you can focus more on one of the past, present, or future," the teacher answered.

At lunch, Max noticed his brother was distracted. "Conner, what's wrong?"

"That assignment is bothering me," he admitted. "We can't exactly be honest in it."

"Sure you can," Dan said. "Be vague about the details; you overcame hardships, but you don't have to be specific about what they were."

"Maybe," Conner said doubtfully. "What are you going to focus on?"

"Everybody's going to write about the past because it's easier," Dan said. "So, I'm going to talk about the present for a better grade."

"I think I'll focus on the future," Max said with a pained smile. "I'd like to leave the past behind."

"Are you going to be okay with this?" Dan asked. "I'm sure if you talked to the teacher about it, you could skip the assignment."

"I'll be fine. What about you, Conner? What are you going to focus on?"

"I guess I'll write about the present," Conner said, still feeling unsettled.

Location: the Kent's farm

"Would you mind looking this over?" Conner asked his brother. "I want to make sure I'm not being too vague."

Max looked over the page and made a few suggestions before asking, "You're still having problems with this, aren't you?"

"I am," Conner admitted. "I don't know why."

Max shifted uncomfortably. Conner noticed him fidgeting.

"You've got an idea, don't you?" Conner asked. "Why don't you reveal what your psychological knowledge tells you?"

"I don't think you'll want to hear it."

"Tell me, or we're going to get into a fight and you'll tell me at the end."

"I'd beat you," Max warned.

"Exactly! You'd feel so bad after doing so that you'd break down and tell me! So, we can cut out the bruises and guilt by just telling me what you think is going on."

Max chuckled. "Now you're making it clear that I'd feel guilty for not telling you. Very nicely done in manipulating me, Mr. Kent."

"Thank you, Mr. Kent. Now, spill what you've figured out."

"You don't know who you are."

Conner glared at him. "If this is some sort of Zen thing..."

"No, I'm serious! You're two people, Conner Kent and Superboy, but you aren't sure which one is the real you."

"I don't get what you're talking about."

"Let's take an example. Clark is Superman, but he's really just Clark. All his connections and how he feels are all related to Clark. On the other hand, you have Batman. Even though he's Bruce Wayne, everything that drives him is from Batman."

"What about his connections to Tim and Dick?"

"Those mostly come from his association with Robin and Nightwing. If you look at how he began his relationships with them, it was through his time as Batman."

"I see. So, why don't you have this problem? You're Max Kent and Match."

"Before I worked with you as a member of the Groups, my time as Match was pretty empty. I did missions and that's about it. My first time as a real person was when I worked with you and became Max. Plus, I have something very important that came into my life as Max; that's completely separate from Match."

"I would have guessed that since you're so focused, you'd be more Match than Max."

Max shrugged. "Life is funny that way. I probably was before Dan."

"So, which one do you think I am?" Conner asked.

"You can be whoever you want to be."

"All right, don't avoid the question."

Max was adamant. "You have to decide this for yourself. You've had good and bad experiences as both; I'm not going to be the one who makes this decision for you."

"You can give me your opinion, though."

"I'm not going to influence you any more on this matter. No threat of guilt or bruises will get me to budge."

Location: Smallville High

Conner told Dan about what Max had said the previous night about his identity issue.

"Did he really?" Dan asked.

Conner nodded. "Now I'm all confused, and I don't know what to think."

"I can't believe that he won't tell you what he thinks."

Max returned with three Soder Colas. "There's a very good reason."

"What do you think, Dan?" Conner asked.

"I only know you as Conner," Dan pointed out.

"If I looked at it through how I met most of my friends, it wasn't as Conner," Conner said out loud.

Max frowned. "Why don't we talk about this at home?"

Conner realized what he had done. "Yeah, that's a good idea."

Location: the Kent's farm

Max decided to cancel practice so Conner could talk through his problem.

"I met just about all my friends as Superboy," Conner said. "That's a good indication, right?"

"I guess I'm special," Dan commented.

"Keep in mind that being one does not preclude being the other," Max commented.

"That's not helping," Conner said before he took a sip of his drink.

"I think Max is just saying that he wants you to be Conner enough to play a role in his life," Dan said. "He doesn't want to lose you."

Conner put his drink down, and Max reddened.

"What?" Conner managed.

"I'd be upset if we only ever met to fight crime," Max quietly admitted.

"You'll never stop being my brother."

"Though, ask yourself this," Max suggested. "Is Superboy dating Wonder Girl or is Conner Kent dating Cassandra Sandsmark?"

"Now, I'm more confused than ever," Conner complained.

During dinner, there was a knock on the door. Jonathan went to answer it. He returned a moment later with Whit Fordham, Smallville High's quarterback.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your dinner," he said. "I was wondering if I could have a word in private with Conner."

Conner inwardly groaned. When he first came to Smallville, Whit had led the members of the football team to basically make his life miserable. After a couple of months, they stopped, but they pretty much had made him a pariah at school. He never told the Kents about it, and they off and on expressed hope that he'd be good friends with 'that Fordham boy.'

"Sure, let's talk on the porch," Conner said.

Once outside, Conner took a look around to see if anyone was hiding. He wouldn't be terribly surprised if the rest of the football team was hiding and ready to throw eggs at him. He couldn't find any trace of anyone else.

Whit seemed nervous.

"What's up?" Conner asked.

"That assignment in English class has got me thinking," the quarterback said.

Conner bit back a response. Whit didn't seem like he was starting trouble, so Conner wasn't going to.

"I treated you like crap when you came here," Whit admitted. "You didn't deserve it and I know it's not enough, but I'm sorry."

Conner was surprised, he wasn't expecting this. "I always wondered what I did to piss you off."

"It wasn't you, it was me. When I heard you were coming, I got worried. The coach still talks about your cousin like he's the second coming. I...was afraid that you'd take my being quarterback away."

Conner quirked an eyebrow at him. "Football's not really my thing."

"I know, but it's pretty much all I have. I'm not really good at anything else."

Conner shrugged. "What's done is done. Apology accepted."

Whit looked at him. "Really? You're okay with it?"

"I won't look back at it fondly," Conner said dryly. "However, I won't look back with anger."

"I was thinking you'd cuss me out."

"Nah."

There was a knock at the door. The two turned.

Jonathan was there. "Are you boys done?"

"Yes, Mr. Kent," Whit said. "We just finished."

"Would you like to stay for dinner? We've got enough for another serving."

"I'm not sure..."

"Come on," Conner encouraged him. "Max is the best cook I've ever seen. Where else in Smallville are you going to get gourmet French food?"

Whit stayed, and a pleasant evening was had by all.

Location: Conner and Max's room

"How much did you eavesdrop when I was talking to Whit?" Conner asked.

"All of it," Max replied without any indication of shame. "You never told me that the other students gave you trouble when you first came here."

"It wouldn't have done any good. Besides..."

"Yes?"

"I didn't want you going around and blowing up their property in retaliation."

"No one would ever have connected those explosions to me," Max said straight-faced.

Max took a long look at his brother. "You've come to a decision, haven't you?"

"I can't hide anything from you, can I?"

"No."

"I may not fully know who Conner Kent is yet, but I'd like to get to know him better."

Max smiled. "I'm glad."

Location: Smallville High

"I can't believe this," Conner groused. "All that soul-searching and confronting philosophical issues and I only get a B?!?"

Dan took a look at his paper. "This is too unfocused."

"You were the one who said I should be vague!"

"Vague and evasive are not the same thing."

"What did you get?" Conner asked his brother.

"That's not important," Max replied.

"Now, that's evasive," Conner said, grabbing Max's paper from him. "But not evasive enough...what a surprise, an A."

Dan went over to get a look at Max's paper. "No one ever talks about the future on these things. What's this about a politically-oriented career? Am I going to have to call you President Max?"

"Do I want to know who your running mate is going to be?" Conner teased. "Should I send this to Lois and Clark so they can set up an interview with the future President now?"

Max grabbed his paper. "I'm not interested in running for office, just maybe trying to manage a campaign."

"I see, the power behind the throne?"

"You make it sound so...undignified."

"I figure somebody has to keep you in line," Conner said smiling. "I'll be around for that."

Max smiled. "I'm glad."

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Any and all comments welcome!


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